The current process in the delivery of babies requires the umbilical cord to be clamped and cut shortly after a child is born. The function of the cord is the transmission of nutrients, oxygen and carbon dioxide between mother and baby through blood flowing in the cord. The cord, which extends from the placenta, is thus engorged with fetal blood at birth.
It has become known that the blood present in the umbilical cord at birth has considerable potential curative value, e.g. for extraction of neutral stem cells with potential transplant value and for use in bone marrow transplants for treatment of cancer and immunodeficiency disorders. In the past, umbilical cord blood has been discarded with the placenta. However, commercial services are now available for collection and storage of umbilical cord blood for personal or family use.
Common practices to obtain this blood include the draining of the cord segment directly into an open vial and direct extraction from the cord by syringe or needle. The draining method requires one person to hold an open ended sample vial below the cord opening while a second person opens a metal clamp and attempts to direct the blood flow into the opening. In this open system, the cord segment must be hand squeezed towards the vial, likely causing many contaminants to flow into the vial including possibly the mother's vaginal blood, amniotic fluids and Wharton's gel. In addition, when a syringe or needle is used to extract the blood directly from the cord in an open or closed system, care must be taken to prevent inadvertent needle sticks. In addition, single syringes may be limited in the amount of blood that they are able to extract.